Inventory shrinkage is a significant issue for the retail industry, amounting to tens of billions of dollars in losses annually. A significant portion of these losses come from shoplifting, including theft of unpaid merchandise, fraudulent return of unpaid merchandise, and obtaining refunds for merchandise at a higher price than was originally paid. These points of loss may involve receipts, whether real or counterfeit.
To combat inventory shrinkage, stores have employed methods such as surveillance, electronic article surveillance (EAS), marking receipts as used, and having a separate secure area for returning merchandise. Another approach involves the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on every item, with a unique identifier for each tag so that every item can be tracked. However, this requires that every item have an RFID tag, which results in added expense and requires changes in the manufacturing and/or packaging processes. These methods may be personnel-intensive, expensive, and/or not completely effective in preventing losses.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for inventory control using identification tags such as RFID tags.